0c0g --gcaptions by vitac -- www.vitac.com . good morning. everyone here on the floor is like time for the show to start. how are you doing? time for your morning to start. i'm robin meade. you know, more people are under arrest in the murder of a florida couple, and there was a very emotional moment after this was announced. plus -- >> the words i chose, taking the rhetorical flourish, bad idea. >> that's supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor talking about her treshl white latina comment. senators grilled her about it but are they taking her explanation. and -- >> geez louise.

we prayed that we would be fine. >> we're talking about the plane with the football-sized hole. we talked about that yesterday. now you'll look at it from a passenger standpoint. first a plane has crashed in iran. everybody onboard is believed to be dead. the plane went down 90 miles north of tehran. we got these pictures from the crash scene. it's believed that the caspian airlines plane was headed to armenia. more details as we get them this morning and more pictures as we get them this morning. police now have arrested seven people in the shooting deaths of a florida couple. the suspects include a 16-year-old and an air force member. authorities plan to charge all of them with murder. three suspects were arained yesterday. the man who organized it is a former national guard member and he says there's no proof that he

has done anything wrong. >> involves confessions. >> i asked you if there was anything i could do for you, and your response back to me was, sheriff, find the people who did this. it is my honor today to tell you, ashley, and your family, we have found them, and they are in custody. >> that is the sheriff talking with byrd and melanie billings' daughter. they adopt 13 children. nine of them were home when the couple was murdered last week. none of them were hurt. they're being cared for by family members. >> supreme court justice sonia sotomayor is getting high marks. say she responded well at her

confirmation hearing yesterday. sonia sotomayor faced tough questions. in 2001 she suggested a wise latina woman might make better legal decisions than a white man. take a listen. >> this wise latina comment has been talked about a lot but i can tell you one thing. if i said anything remotely like that my career would have been over. >> i want to state up front, unee cohesiu unee cohesive kalle and without doubt that -- has an advantage in sound judging. >> news center al franken may get his turn to ask questions today. he's the newest member of the senate committee. day three of the confirmation hearing starts at 9:00 a.m. eastern. investigators looking into michael jks's death are poring over new medical records.

yesterday l.a. coroner went to the office. that dermatologist who you're seeing here said he never gave jackson any dangerous drugs. the battle over jackson's children may not get settled easily. the lawyer for jackson's ex-wife debbie rowe says she still has not decided roy to do. that was in response that roe was to take $4 million in exchange for not challenging jackson's mother for custody. though they divorced a decade ago, friends say rowe and jackson stayed close. >> i know there was deep afencing. debbie was very close to michael for many, many years. at this point it's 0 ye30 years. there was a true, true love there for michael. >> well, a child custody hearing had been set for this week but a court official has said it's pushed back until next monday. nasa is going to try again

tonight to launch the space shuttle "endeavour." this is the sixth time. thunderstorms have delayed it three times and gas leaks have caused delays two times. they need to install the final piece of japan's space launch. it's scheduled for 6:03. president obama threw out the first pitch at the all-star game. how did he do? >> he was a little self-effacing regarding the throw. overall he was pleased. he joked that he clocked it at 30 miles an hour. he came out wearing a white sox jacket with a bullet-proof vest underneath it. 44th. loud cheers from fans in the stand, surprising considering how long they probably took to get to the park and then lobbed it overhand to albert pujols, lodged it over the plate.

you try throwing it with a bulletproof vest on. >> we all get the arm chair quarterback. john ensign says he wants to run for re-election, in fact. remember, his parents gave his mistress's family almost $100,000. the republican told the "las vegas sun" that senate leaders support him. but mcconnell said ensign should speak on those issues himself. osama bin laden is telling people to fight the american influence there. al zawahri released a new statement. now, suspected u.s. missiles recently targeted military a leaders there just as pakistan's military is conducting a major antitaliban offensive. we have some amazing video.

a near miss. the pilot of this plane was doing air oh battics. did you see that? the plane did not come up in time. it hit a family car on the road. the three people in the car and the pilot all escaped with minor injuries. i want to watch a it in slow mo. oh. can you believe that. that was minor injuries thankfully. well, breaking news, this morning, a powerful magnitude earthquake has struck off the west coast of new zealand this morning. a tsunami washing has been issued. we'll follow the story. keep an eye on it. extreme weather is on tap. we're talking storms in some places, triple-digit temps in others. hiing bob. >> if you liked yesterday's weather, you'll like today's too. except the thunderstorm line is over chicago.

here's the big picture. high pressure region, upper level high. it means sinking air. it's going to pick up pretty quickly. things spotted yesterday. things spotted the last two weeks. you get up to the north, nice line of showers around chicago. turns into thunderstorms for central parts of illinois. here's what it looks like around chicago. heavy downpours other the city. i'm looking for any kanld of lightning to pop up here and there. you see a couple every once in a while. i don't think you're going to see hail or gusty winds. down to the south, here's all the lighting in around deindicate ur. you can see it here, north of st. john's, north of st. louis. another line coming in near kansas city. that's all racing toward the east. here are all the warn aings and advisories. warnings are in effect. check out the aftermath of a tornado that hit spicer.

you see what happened to it. houses got damaged. branches all over the place. even storms ripped off the roofing of a nearby mall in spicer. i think there were reports of two separate tornadoes. you can see wait did there. a little breezy, but no severe weather for you today. there you go, rob. >> thanks. a swim club facing racism allegations, wishes it could have a do-over. a day camp says its kids were turned away because of their skin color and they may sue, now the club director's wife is saying why they should not.

in our salute to the troops today's sa lutd is for specialist thomas kirkwood. he's in afghanistan on a second deployment. i want you to check out these pictures. look at that. thomas's wife says she and her son dallas miss him so much. that baby is so kutd. and they're both very anxious

for him to come home. maybe you have somebody in the military and your family wants to say we salute you or miss you. go to cnn.com/robin. a lawsuit could ruin a swim club accused of turning away kids because of race. that's from the club director's wife. she said they don't have the money and they're volunteers. she wishes they could have a do-over. the club has said the kids were turns away because of overcrowding. they were invited back but the day camp refuse and now may sue. firsts started flying after a judge handed down a murder sentence. wouchlt check out the video from right outside the courtroom. it's new for you in the next half hour. see why even the convicted killer's mom is facing charges. chrysler's financial arm is giving your taxpayer money back a to the government. it just returned 1$1.5 billion n bailout money.

what does it mean for chrysler's future, you know, beyond them being able to say, we're free? >> yeah, think you might think, hey, does that mean chrysler is doing okay? not necessarily. what it really shows is that you the taxpayer, you are getting some of your bailout money back. and chrysler used part of that money for what it was supposed to do. it used part of the money to help people buy cars. so they funded 85,000 car loans. the automaker is not all squared up yet with uncle sam. last week it borrowed a billion dollars from a different program. so at least in this case, money being paid back and providing credit at a time when a lot of banks aren't doing so. so that's something to help the economy. the president wants to pump $12 billion into community colleges over the next decade for scholarships, online classes. he said that for two long community colleges have been treated like a step child.

that's his word. in the higher education world. >> that means schools are often years behind. which means in a 21st century economy they're years behind in the education they can aur. that's a mistake and that's one we hope to correct. >> the president said the government can afford the money by no longer paying money to for-profit student loan companies. there used to be a lot of subsidies. we'll see in that changes. this could turn out to be a hunl help if you lost your job and you can't figure out how to make your monthly mortgage payment. the president is looking at new ways for jobless homeowners to stay out of foreclosure. this is according to roy ters. one of the ways they were looking at. if you lost your job, maybe a renting your home for a little while. so you give up ownership but you get to stay in your home for a few years, you're not on the street and your family is in a lot of instability. >> then you have to pay for a

place to stay in. >> but you've got a few years. you know -- >> got to make it work. exactly. no choice. thank you. you know, investigators are looking into how a football-sized hole opened up on a plane in mid-life. the latest on what the airline is saying and how one passenger says her family hand aled the yore deep. ordeal

that song cracks me up. southwest airlines says that inspectors found nothing unusual in dozens of its planes after a hole in a jet forced an emergency landing. the football-sized hole appeared monday on a flight from nashville to baltimore. the plane was flying at 34,000 feet when the crew reported the hole. the passengers said it was a crazy experience. >> geez louise. basically my kids and i, we prayed, and we say, okay, you know, life will be fine. >> the plane landed safely. it is unclear what caused the hole. president obama gave a another exclusive intervurk this

time from the boogtd of the baseball all-star game f here's rafer with more on that. he was called the game, giving an interview. >> he was trying. to his credit -- wow, look at that. but you know what? he was a big hit with the players. he was a big hit with the fans. and his appearance really gave gravity to a game that has been lacking it. there he was in the booth with with big-time broadcasters. he was wearing his white sox jacket. he was commended for, quote, not playing it down the middle. then he gave the reason for wearing his true colors. >> listen. everyone knows i'm a white sox fan and my wife thinks i look cute in that jacket. between those two things, why not. >> he threw the first pitch. this was in the seventh inning. brad hawpe of the rockies hits one. looks to be a home run and then he's robbed by crawford right there. they would win it.

they get homefield advantage in the world series. >> my wife thinks i look cute. >> that's the best reason to wear anything says the married man. >> yes, it is. thank you. hark, i think i hear another married man. does your wife dress you? >> yeah. >> yeah. >> she bought my tie this morning. >> did she? >> yeah. >> we'll get the camera over there. bob's here to tell you how your flight is going to be flying. of all days, we can't get the camera there. >> when they get this close, the bridge of my nose is at risk. >> nice tie. >> yes. thank you. if you ee going to do any traveling, the first part of the day looking pretty nice. miami, it's a nice morning. this is what you want to see in july. temperatures, you get up to around the low 90s. but look at that. what a gorgeous shot. a little bit of haze out there.

you're going to find haze around atlanta. here's what we'll call for a delay. we had showers right around chicago, moving on through. about 1800 jets up in the sky now. we're going to see delays. then this afternoon looks okay. one hour or more and then later today, detroit, clearland, cincinnati, storms. minneapolis, gusty winds, 30 minutes to an hour. there's a tsunami advisory for the state of hawaii, all the islands there. the only threat there is kind of unusual tides coming in. that would be around 11:00 this morning. we'll talk about that in just a bit. >> we'll certainly keep our eye on that. >> alaska is safe too. >> okay. thanks. alaska governor sarah palin is facing her 18th ethics complaint. a woman says she abused her office while campaigning for vice president.

palin's attorney calls it meritless and says pail listen work oed as governor while campaigning. it is her fifth complaint. she is resigning july 26. a murderer and rapist who escaped prison about are nowhere to be found and police say they don't know where to look. they broke out of the indiana state prison on sunday with a third man. police caught him near the vacation home of chicago's mayor daley. indiana police are relying on people who know the men and the public for leads. well, here are some of the stories to watch on your "morning express." they started hearing on the real one. it sets federal effects. the homeland security says she has a cheaper plan. at 1:00 p.m. eastern senator hillary clinton lays out her foreign policy agenda. when homes get foreclosed

upon, the owners often leave a lot behind, including their petting.

breaking news this morning. a plane crashed this morning and all 168 people onboard are believed to be dead. it's from iranian state tv. the caspian air flight was on its way from iran to armenia a. it went down 90 miles from tehran. emergency officials says the wreckage was on fire and no one could have survived. these are three of the seven suspects arrested in the killing of the couple in florida. the eight are accused of shooting the billings to death. nine of the special needs children were home at the time. none of them were hurt. police say records at bur oak cemetery were found rotting in a rusty filed cabinet.

they also say they've got about 65,000 requests from families wanting info in the chicago area cemetery. the lawyer from michael jackson's ex-wife is denying a report that she'll take a $4 million payoff from the jackson family to call off the fight for the children. he said debbie rowe hasn't made a decision about a custody fight yet. wednesday morning. morning, sunshine. i'm robin meade. i hope you're doing right. i'm robin meade. i already said that. supreme court sonia sotomayor is facing tough questions during her confirmation hearing. >> do you stand by your statement my experience affects the choices i chies to see? >> no, sir, i don't stand byty understanding of that statement, that i will ignore other facts or experiences because i haven't

had them. i do believe that life experiences are important to the process of judging. they help you to understand and listen, but that the law requires a result. and it will command you to the facts that are relevant to the disposition of the case. >> republican and democratic senators say she responded well at the hearing. she faced nearly seven hours of questioninging. new senator al franken may get to ask some of the questions tore. he is the newest member of the senate judicial hearing. day three starts at #:30 a.m. eastern. new pictures of north korea's leader may raise more questions about his health. one shows kim jong-il visiting a factory and looking fine but another picture you don't see here shoes him using a sun shade. a south korean agency says that is unusual and may show he has

health issues. a 20-foot shark that washed ashore had died. it was found yesterday in new york east of jones beach. park officials say it looks like the shark was sick. after they figure out why it died they plan to bury it in some nearby sand dunes. >> it's huge it's humongous. >> i grew up surfing around those waters and i never saw anything that big. >> can you imagine? >> no. i always knew it was out there. look at the size of that thing. >> when you compare it to the people. >> you're goupg going to need a bigger boat. you're going to need a bigger boat. >> how do you bury that? >> in chicago we have pretty rains. it's not going to be a pretty morning rush. >> if you wait an hour, the rain will get out of there. you have steady rain south of milwaukee with a thunderstorm now getting into gary, indiana. that's stretching out to the

east. so behind it drier air working in. i think this rain is essentially over with when the band goes on by. down to the south, not the same. look at the squall line developing south of champlain. that's going to stretch all the way north of st. louis right now. you see the thunderstorm complex north of the city. broken showers and pockets of rain. more thunderstorms developing. it's basically just to the west of kansas city. you see the high away. that's all moving toward the east at roughly 30 miles an hour. heavy downpours. the other bing store. it's going to be a squall line. the hot temperatures once again. dallas, conway, little rock, getting back toward oklahoma city and it's a warning when you get there. temperatures today feeling like about 107. all right. it has been warm. it's also been wet. july showers bringing in lots of wild flowers to the mountains.

check out the beautiful colors. marigolds. fr forget me nots in full bloom. look at. this it's been a good growing season so far. >> where has this been? >> it's colorado. right across the mountains. it's governors. >> there you go. when you mention the flower, alú i saw was the lady's hat. >> there you go. >> all right. there is breaking news this morning, a snootsunami advisory being pointed out. it's not only being recognized as a destructive event. it struck off the west coast of the island this morning. yeah, we're going to keep an eye on this for our viewers from hawaii. are you planning a vacation for this fall? well, good news in a bad economy. major disdowns the airlines are going to try to give you to help fill up their planes.

let's take a look at the morning papers now. from the new york times, military officers say that iezs or improadvised explosive devices are becoming more common andsophisticated. there were 460 bomb attacks on coalition forces alone. some shark attack survivors are not holding grudges. at least 9 survivors are going to be on capitol hill to push for new restrictions of fishing. this helps vets charged with nonviolent crimes to deal with

underlying problems. hey, did you know that "harry potter and the half blood prince" opens today. more than 2700 screenings sold out. variety reports say that six harry potter movies could overtake the james boblds movies as the growing frar fran chosener. so far he's earned $4.5 billion. james bond, $5 billion. >> say you have a fight with your credit card company and you go to the mat and you go to arbitration. well, minnesota prosecutors allege the deck is stacked against you and our money expert jennifer west homeowner hovene >> when you sign up for a credit card company, you probably sign away your right to sue. it's in that finy tine print.

now the minnesota attorney general alecs that one of those arbitration companies is in bed with the credit card company if it's true. out of 18,000 cases that went to an arbitration company, more than 99% of them went the credit card company's way. makes you think do i really have a fair shot. the arbitration company says it vigorously disagrees with any allegations of bias. a thousand boeing workers are losing their job. the pentagon has cut money. less for them. that story is getting a lot of attention on cnn.com. nasa says it's going to cut 400 workers in its space shuttle program. airways are having such a hard time they're slashing fierce again. they're desperate to get you, me, anybody to buy a ticket. cheap plane tickets? some good news in a bad economy.

air tran, southwest, they've been selling one-way fares at 30 or $40. many are cutting fares to stay competitive. we talked about this a couple days agoing what's happening is they're extending their fare sales and make it better. if you thought you couldn't afford a vacation, you may want to take a look at some of the travel websites. >> those are going on right now. >> yeah. >> okay. thanks. a soap company in georgia is making recession work for them. stephanie elam has this story in the small business success. >> reporter: she knows how to clean up in business. she started her noveltity soap company in 2003. >> the first year we did 45,000. the next year 150. and then it jumped to about 400 and then it jumped to over a million. >> but shortly after being named

the business person of the year the recession hit her soap company. her biggest client linens and things filed for bankruptcy. >> it was bad. to might worse i panicked and i began to make bad decisions on top of it. >> but dawn pulled herself together and made changes including better managing inventory and expenses. >> a lot of things turned around. >> things are lathered up for dawn now. the company is leaner and cleaner. he products are sold in almost 4,000 stores across the u.s. and online. and her customers include just about everything. >> we like to say kids of all ages from 2 to 80. anybody who takes a bath or shower. if you are a small business owner we'd like to see your success story. go to cnn.com/robin.

upload a video i rot of your business and share your info and you could be featured right here on "morning express." man with muscular dystrophy went skydiving for the first time in 22 years. >> so many people out here that only dream of doing stuff like this. now this will hopefully open the door for them. >> you've got to hear his amazing story, an inspiring story. p÷xñb

are you behind today? it's quarter to the hour. hypoyou're running on time. the bodies of a mother and two children have been found buried under a mudslide. it destroyed their home in logan, utah, on saturday. 15 homes had to be evacuated. in all, eight homes were

damaged. 11 by mud. officials don't know yet what caused the slide. so it's always fun when you watch people who we think are like stars and celebrities get star-struck. and that's what happened at major league baseball's all-star meeting last night because the president was there. top that, right, wafer? >> good morning. wait till you see it. a couple of them look like little kids themselves. but it was a great day for baseball overall and a largely had to do with the president being there. he picked up hall of fame player willy mays. he flew him on air force one to st. louis. then it was time to pull out the first pitch. the key is you've got to get it over the plate. before that that's when he went through the locker rooms, meeting some of the players. look at the shot with each row sue zu ski. so excited, right? and then he went into the booth,

tried his hand at announcing. we're going to have more on that. >> for the first time in history a guy who did not score was named mvp of the game. that was carl crawford who helps him win his seventh straight all-star game. he did it on that catch. robbed colorado's brad hawpe of a home run. also in baseball, the st. ball saints known for their special events they're going to be having twitter and facebook night. we showed you other things in the past. next week fans, players, coaches and employees are going to be updating their status throughout the game, coaches and players. they have to twigger and do facebook during the game. >> that's a good story because so many coaches don't want their players to be tweeting. >> no. you're absolutely right. so it's a complete reversal.

thank you. looks like they have quite the history of promotions. how's our flying? yesterday he said it was good. >> we have all kl of rain showers around chicago, o'hare. no delays yet. let me show you. sabre flight explorer. a lot of volume by jfk. groundstop there. that ends in 12 minutes for jfk, new york. otherwise thing should be oklahoma for the first part of the country except chicago. rain overhead right now. this afternoon looks pretty good and later today we're looking at storms developing. detroit, cleveland, cincinnati, minneapolis, gusty winds. all in all, robin. a pretty decent day. what about the space shuttle? it's supposed to go up today. >> yes or no? >> i se say yes. >> a new discount airline called

jet america was supposed to take off. what happens if you bought a ticket. >> okay. do you know jet america was already supposed to be in the air? you may have heard me talk about what a neat thing it was that they were going to offer, in fact, were selling $9 seats. a number of $9 seats per flight for their new route system that was mostly concentrated in the eastern half of the united states, at least start. except the start, there hasn't been one. and now what are they going to do? well, they're blaming the whole thing on the federal government saying the feds didn't give them the slot they needed at newark airport in order to be able to get the airline up u and running. gosh, if you bought one of the tickets from jet america and you can't work auto o an accommodation with them, what do you do? if you paid by credit card, you

dispute the credit card company. i for one hope they pull this i'm clark howard, for more deals for your wallet go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. clark will teach you to save more, spend less, avoid getting ripped off, catch him at noon eastern on saturdays and sundays height rear on hln. a sky went skydiving to inspire other people with disabilities. mike crowe has muse color dystrop dystrophy. they sky dived with the golden knights team yesterday. his first jump in more than two decades. >> i am tickled to death. i cannot believe this is happening. the it has been a dream for 22 years. again, the dream is coming true. >> his physical therapist says that it is amazing that he did the jump. muse cular dystrophy severely limits the mobility in his shoulders and hands. .

fists started flying minutes after a murder sentencing. take a look for yourself. oh, my gosh. a michigan judge had just sentenced a man to life for killing an ex-police chief's son. witnesses said that the killer's mom pleaded with the judge. she was removed. in the end, 30 people were in the hallway. police said that the crowd was throwing punches. they arrested several people, including the defendant's mom. it turns out that this was a case of deja vu for the county's court system. take a look at this fight from june. it broke out in another courthouse when a murder victim's father started punching the defendant and just last week, a woman was arrested for screaming during a hearing at that same courthouse. what is the deal? texting can be dangerous for your health. a long list of texting accidents that people have run into literally. ñññoññ ooññy i'll clean the pool if you clean the windows.

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good morning, sunshine. time for wednesday to begin. i'm robin meade. here's what's going on. breaking news today, a jetliner packed with passengers went down in iran. we have new pictures from the crash site. plus -- >> it is my honor today to tell you, actually, and your family, we have found them. and they are in custody. >> he's talking about new suspects arrested in the deaths of a florida couple with 13 adopted children. what's hard to believe is that some of the suspects were supposed to be protecting all of us. first, though, breaking news, 168 people are believed to be dead in a plane crash this morning. iranian state tv reports that the caspian airlines flight was on its way from tehran to ar may

nia and went down after takeoff and crashed in a field about 90 miles away. emergency officials said the plane was shattered to pieces and that no one could have survived. police now have arrested seven people in the shooting deaths of a florida couple. the suspects include a 16-year-old and an air force member. authorities plan to charge all of them with murder. three suspects were arraigned yesterday. the man accused of organizing the home invasion is a former national guard member and he says that there is no proof that he is done anything wrong. >> heresay, circumstantial evidence and the confession of a mentally challenged person making false statements. >> we have information that indicates that there was an amount of practice that was involved. there are a couple of individuals that prior military backgrounds in this group.

so again, as we stated early on in this investigation, with really only one element, it was a very well planned and well executed operation. the sheriff also revealed that a safe was taken from byrd and melanie billings home. the couple had four biological children and adopted 13 special needs kids. nine of the kids were home when the couple was killed last week. none of them was hurt. they're being cared for by family members. members of the billings' family are holding a news conference. that's a live picture you're seeing right now. this is the couples -- one of their daughters saying the siblings are coping well and establishing a trust for the children. stay with us. we'll listen to this and bring you more info. supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor is getting high marks for handling nearly seven hours of questions. republican and democratic senators say that she responded well at her confirmation hearing yesterday. judge sotomayor faced tough questions about a controversial statement in 2001 she suggested

that a wise latina woman might make better legal decisions than a white man. take a listen. >> this wise latina comment has been talked about a lot but i can tell you one thing, if i said anything remotely like that, my career would have been over. >> i want to state up front, unequivocally and without doubt, i do not believe that any ethnic, racial or gender group has an advantage in sound judging. >> judge sotomayor also talked about her views on your right to bear arms. her comments are new for you in the next 30 minutes. president obama threw out the first pitch at baseball's all-star game. so did he make it over the plate? that's always kind of the barometer at least. hi, rafer. >> good morning. a lot of guys do not make it over the plate but he did pretty well for not playing organized baseball. check it out for yourself. he trotted out to the mound wearing a white sox jacket with a bulletproof vest on

underneath. the 44th came out to some very loud cheers from the fans. and then he had been practicing this. said he practiced in the rose garden. the wind up and the toss, it just makes it over the plate. it's hard throwing with a bulletproof vest on. tried his hand at play by play announcing. >> you have to hear his reason for wearing that jacket, other than the fact that he's a fan of the white sox. thanks. the nevada senator who had an affair with a staffer says he does not plan to resign. in fact, john ensign says he wants to run for re-election. his parents gave his mistress' family almost $100,000. the republican told the "las vegas sun" senate leaders support him but gop leader mitch mcconnell said ensign should speak on those issues himself. osama bin laden's top deppsy is telling people in pakistan to fight the american influence there. ayman al zawahiri released a new audio message this morning and asking pakistanis to support islamic militants because of

what he called blatant american meddling in pakistan. suspected u.s. missiles recently targeted leaders there just as pakistan's military is conducting a major anti-taliban offensive. investigators looking into michael jackson's death are pouring over new medical records. yesterday, l.a.'s assistant chief coroner went to the office of jackson's dermatologist. just last week on our sister network cnn the doctor said he never gave jackson any dangerous drugs. >> we're still conducting our investigation. there is a security hold on the case and i can't comment any further. >> are these paper documents or are you looking at medication as well? >> we're looking for some documentation that dr. klein has agreed to provide to us. >> medical records of michael jackson? >> can you say something about the toxicology results? >> no. we hope to have the findings probably in the middle of this next week. >> the california attorney general's office and the d.e.a.

are helping l.a. officials with the investigation. well, i'll tell you what the morning rush is going to be so bad in the chicago area. >> it is. >> it's because of the rain. who else has rain? meteorologist bob van dillen. good morning. >> that rain line stretches from chicago now down towards st. louis and getting over towards kansas city. the other thing we're watching is that tsunami alert we had for hawaii, a tsunami advisory, it's been dropped. not expecting any damaging tsunamis near hawaii or alaska. maybe some unusual tides at 11:00 your time but you're not going to see much of an effect at all. as for the rain around chicago, look at that thunderstorm that went through gary, towards south bend. not severe but it's a heavy rainmaker for sure and a lot of rain pulling towards lake michigan. behind it drier air working in this afternoon. should see a decent afternoon for you around chicago. it's just rain for the first part of the day. and then thunderstorms coming in south of champagne to just to

the east of st. louis. that thunderstorm line to your east. more showers and thunderstorms north of you. kansas city, light rain showers. get farther out toward the west and decent rain coming down across central parts of kansas. down to the south, it's the same story. it's going to be hot today. heat advisories, heat warnings, in red, going to feel like 105 to 107. the severe weather threat is out there for the afternoon. basically east of chicagors the entire state of indiana later today, around the cold frontal boundary, south of st. louis and south of kansas city and upslope winds around the rocky mountains, watch for powerful thunderstorms near denver. probably some hail makers and gusty winds. west coast looks pretty good. high pressure sitting over the four corners. a little reprieve in the temperatures around phoenix. your high only about 110. once the real weather that gets away from you pretty much builds in back around saturday and sunday, back up to 116 for them. how about in atlanta? looking pretty good. it's going to be dry at 90

degrees today. here comes the heat and humidity up just a touch as well. thunderstorms west of atlanta today. >> who's having 116 degrees? >> the weekend for phoenix. >> oh, my gosh. >> it's a heat watch out there. >> i bet. a swim club facing racism allegations wishes it could get a do over. a day camp said its kids were turned away because of race and it may sue. the club's director's wife is saying why they should not.

good morning there you are, ten minutes after the hour. a lawsuit could ruin a swim club accused of turning away kids because of race. that's from the club director's wife. he said that they don't have the money and they're volunteers. she wishes they could have a doover. the club has said the kids were

turned away because of overcrowding. they were invited back but the day camp refused and may sue. a dog that has been missing in texas for five months has been found 1800 miles away, wondering around in -- wandering around in ohio. one animal control officer was a able to trace the dog back to its owner through the micro chip. the owner can't afford to fly flower back home. maybe someone will step up and help. it is time right now for a salute to the troops. today's salute is for specialist thomas kirkwood in afghanistan on a second deployment. look at these cute pictures. aren't those sweet. thomas' wife says she and their son dallas miss him and they are anxious for him to come home. maybe you have someone in the service and want to salute him. go to cnn.com/robin. police say a military flare caused a huge fire in wisconsin. but they say there's no sign that the u.s. military actually fired the flare. what's the deal? the story is new for you in the

next 30 minutes. chrysler's financial arm is giving your taxpayer money back to the government. it just returned $1.5 billion in bailout loans. how healthy is it really? our money expert jennifer westhovan. good morning. >> thanks, robin. it's not great for chrysler. doesn't necessarily tell us that company is healthy but it does mean that you're getting some of your money back, some of that bailout money. chrysler used part of that money to do just what it was supposed to do, to help people buy chrysler cars. it funded 85,000 car loans. now don't get me wrong, it is not all squared up yet with the government. it just borrowed another billion dollars through a different federal program, but that money also targeted for more consumer loans. i think it's a little good news to see some of that money is coming back and going to where it's supposed to be going. how would you like a car that runs on sun light, water and pond scum? i'm not kidding. exxon is going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars researching fuel based on algae.

this is a huge deal for exxon. i mean for years, they snubbed biofuels famously sometimes. exxon now says it hopes to develop algae strains that not only does it create fuel for cars and planes, but the strains can also suck up greenhouse gases so that it would actually fight global warming. we'll see. hundreds of millions of dollars going to that. president obama wants to pump $12 billion into community colleges over the next decade for scholarships, on-line classes, et cetera. he said for too long community colleges have been treated like a stepchild in the higher education world. >> that means schools are often years behind in the facilities they provide, which means in the 21st century economy they're years behind in the education they can offer. that's a mistake and it's one that we'll help to correct. >> where is he going to come up with $12 million? he said the government can afford it if it drops subsidies

for profit student loan companies. maybe you're traveling in the great lakes area. bob is asking me to do my -- >> the cheesy morning radio show you got to do it. hi, good morning, everybody. that's right. if you're doing traveling today. she did it. here's what it looks like in detroit. traveling up here, detroit so far so good. you see the clouds coming in, the higher clouds. the clouds will thicken and then lower and it's going to get some showers and thunderstorms in this afternoon. watch for delays up around there. you're going to get some delays around the great lakes. here's what it looks like on saber flight explorer. we have one delay because of the thunderstorm overhead at midway, that's chicago. you're in ground stop for the next 15 minutes. that rain and thundershowers going to get out of here. here's what we're calling for chicago the first part of the day, otherwise this afternoon rain spreads out to the east, calling for delays around detroit, cleveland, cincinnati down to st. louis and kansas city, minneapolis gusty winds behind the front. more details in a bit. we have plenty of highlights from baseball's all-star game last night. rafer is here with that.

lots of good stuff. >> lots of good stuff i guess flying out of there, not so good. >> especially this morning. >> got some good memories to go on. you had some of baseball's biggest heros taking the field on one of sport's biggest stages. one all-star wanted to pay tribute to someone he calls an even bigger hero, an american soldier serving overseas. how he did it. @

the battle over michael jackson's children may not get settled easily. the lawyer for michael jackson's ex-wife debbie rowe says she still has not decided what to do. now that was in response to a report that debbie rowe has agreed to take $4 million in exchange for not challenging jackson's mother for custody. they divorced a decade ago, a friend says that rowe and jackson stayed close. >> i can say that i know there was deep affection like i said before. debbie was very close to michael, many, many years, at this point it's 30 years. i mean there was a true, true love there for michael. >> you know, a child custody hearing had been set for this week, but a court official says it's been pushed back now until next monday. nancy grace is looking at the possibility of a custody battle she'll have today's developments tonight at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m.

eastern. governor arnold schwarzenegger says he's willing to pull an all nighter to end california's $26 billion deficit. lawmakers did not reach an agreement last night, but they think that maybe one more round could do the trick. one big issue is changing benefits to save money without eliminating social service programs. stunning new video shows the inside of a plane that had a football-sized hole in it. the hole appeared monday on a southwest airlines flight from nashville to baltimore. look at this. the plane was at about 34,000 feet when the crew reported it had a hole. it landed safely in charleston, west virginia. a passenger talked with campbell brown on our sister network cnn. >> the first sound i heard, it was like a pop and then a very loud roar, like being next to a blast furnace. i took the baseball cap off my face and looked around and noticed everybody was looking directly above my seat and i

looked up and i had to do a doub doubletake. >> it's unclear what caused the hole. southwest airlines says that inspectors found nothing unusual in dozens of other planes of the same model. obviously don't leave your kids in the car and definitely do not leave the car running. a dad in california hopped out of his car to run an errand, leaving his 2 and 4-year-old kids inside. this surveillance tape shows a man take off with the car. now police say that it was found abandoned three hours later and the kids were not hurt, but just afraid, obviously. president obama gave another exclusive interview, this time from the booth of the baseball all-star game. here's rafer with more on that. good morning. >> good morning, robin. you know the all-star game for lack of a better game has really lacked gravity over the years. people haven't really cared. not saying because the president was there that people cared, but his presence did bring some gravity to the game. we showed you when he threw out

the first pitch a little earlier, but this was his day. he first started off bringing willie mays personally by air force one to st. louis. then -- there he is throwing out the first pitch. lobbing it with the left hand, just makes it over the plate wearing his white sox jacket. to a very cheering crowd. then time to meet some of the players. look at these guys get excited. derek jetter shaking hands. look at ichiro suzuki getting a signed ball. al burt pujols giving him a hug. this would be the play of the game, in the seventh inning with the score tied at three in the seventh, brad hawpe of the colorado rockies hits one deep and carl crawford just robs him of the home run. american league would win its seventh straight all-star game, meaning they will get home-field advantage in the world series. american league all-star pitcher edwin jackson showed his respect for some real heros. the men and women serving

overseas. jackson played special daniel pizzach in a baseball video game via teleconference. with 20 members cheering him on and heckling jackson. he's the son of a retired soldier. not such a nice gesture, imagine not being let into a building named after you. the club manager was asked to leave wrigley field recently. the man who has retired had the clubhouse named after him but when he visited the park on an off day security asked him to leave. they said it was over health concerns. they want to make it up to him. >> over hus health concerns? >> he got to the park okay. >> thanks. when homes get foreclosed upon, the owners often leave a lot of stuff behind, including too often their pets. >> we've got to ban together and help those animals. that's why i sort of get choked up, because every animal i've

ever met has given me nothing but love. >> hear what he's doing to help out some of the silent victims of the foreclosure crisis.

breaking news, a plane crashed this morning and all 168 people on board are believed to be dead. that's from iranian state tv. the caspian airlines flight was on it was fri tehran to armenia. it went down 90 miles from tehran. emergency officials said the wreckage was on fire and that no one could have survived. these are three of the seven suspects arrested in the killings of a florida couple. police are looking for an eighth suspect. the group is accused of shooting byrd and mel laniary in billings to death. the couple's family just wrapped up a news conference and we'll bring you some of what they said in about three minutes. police say records at the burr oaks cemetery where workers are accused of digging up bodies were found rotting in a rusty file cabinet and they also say that they've gotten about 65,000

requests from families wanting info about their loved ones buried at that chicago area cemetery. four people are accused of reselling the burial plots. just a little bit about what's going on this morning. i want to take a break and say good morning to you, as you fix your coffee, i'm robin meade. starting with breaking news now. a tsunami advisory for hawaii has been canceled. the advisory was issued after a powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake. wow. struck off the west coast of new zealand's south island a little more than two hours ago. we're not hearing about any major damage but there have been reports of downed phone lines and power in new zealand. supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor is getting high marks for handling nearly seven hours of questions. republican and democratic senators say she responded well at her confirmation hearing yesterday. judge sotomayor faced tough questions about her views on the second amendment, your right to bear arms. take a listen.

>> that footnote that you wrote leaves the impression that unless the right to bear arms is considered fundamental, any gun restriction is necessarily permissible under the second amendment. is that what you believe? >> no, sir. because that's not -- i'm not taking an opinion on that issue because it's an open question. >> you admit it's an open question? >> well, i admit that justice -- i admit. the courts have been addressing that -- >> okay. >> -- question, the supreme court in the opinion authored by justice scalia suggested it was a question the court should consider. >> okay. so in about two hours judge sotomayor faces day three of her confirmation hearings. new senator al franken may get to ask questions today. he is the newest member of the senate judiciary committee. the house intelligence committee wants documents about a cia program to kill al qaeda leaders that they knew nothing about.

the new cia chief told them former vice president dick cheney kept it from congress. democrats say that that's against the law. they may push for a full investigation, but two former intelligence officials say that cheney's getting a bum wrap because the program never got off the ground. new info in the case of a florida couple killed last week. the family just ended a news conference and their lawyer says that it's clear to her that the attack was a home invasion with the intent to rob the couple. nine children were home at the time when byrd and melanie billings were attacked. none of the kids was hurt. but the family is worried that the kids are not out of danger. >> this is an ongoing investigation. we understand there's the possibility of one or more arrests and while this is an ongoing investigation and we are clear that all those involved have been apprehended, we are concerned about the safety of the children and sad to say, there are very sick people out there.

so not just the people who committed this heinous crime, there are others that we simply don't want to expose the children to. >> seven people have been arrested in connection with the case. they include a father and son, a 16-year-old, and an air force staff sergeant, the alleged ring leader of the attack is a former national guard member. police say that they're looking for an eighth suspect. that story is mind boggling, isn't it? new pictures right now of north korea's leader may raise more questions about his health. one shows kim jong-il visiting a factory and he's looking fine. another picture you don't see here shows him using a sun shade. a south korean news agency says that is unusual and may suggest some health issues. kim reportedly suffered a stroke and one agency says that he has pancreatic cancer. police say that a military flare started a massive fire at a meat packing plant near milwaukee, but they say that there's no sign that the u.s. military fired the flare. the fire happened last week.

now police say that the military flare landed on the roof. authorities are offering a $16,000 reward for info leading to the arrest of those responsible. here is some amazing video. come back in the room. of a near miss you have to see to believe. the pilot of the plane was doing aerobatics near frankfurt on sunday. it didn't come up in time and hit a family's car on the road. the three people in the car and the pilot, believe it or not, they all escaped with minor injuries. i want to watch it again. here comes the plane. really taking a dive here. look how close. i mean, comes right there and there are only minor injuries to report thankfully. a backpacker lost for two weeks in the mountains of australia is alive. two weeks. the man, the 19-year-old, aid seeds and berries to stay alive. two hikers found him near a trail. his father started to give up hope. he even held a private ceremony

to say good-bye. >> he's alive out there. i must admit i lost faith. i made a little shrine for him, the national park with his name and tate of birth. he's going to come back and see his grave stone, i tell you. he's grand. lived out in australia in the '50s they're australians and they will find him and you did find him. i'm so grateful. >> the father gave his son a hard time. teasing him about not being prepared and making survival mistakes. >> survival mistakes? >> i was like, your son did survive. where is the mistake? >> for like two weeks. >> such a -- they must have a pretty good relationship, they can tease him. i thought you were dead. but you made some mistakes. >> i know. some of my friends are like they're all successful, my father is like, there's my idiot son. >> that's what he sounded like. >> imagine surviving for two weeks on twigs -- not twigs but

berries. what it looks like, weather brought to you by zyrtec. if you're traveling around the great lakes today, you know the clouds are coming in, the rain is moving through as well. here's chicago's radar picture. you can see the sweep as it goes on by. the heavy rain is done for chicago. i think it's done for the rest of the day. you might see a break away shower later this morning otherwise the heaviest rain is pulling towards south bend, indian na, lower parts of michigan and the rest of indiana towards lower parts of illinois too. that squall line it goes all the way in towards missouri around st. louis and then get to the rest of missouri, broken showers. towards the kansas side, the big thunderstorm complex rolling down i-70. if you're headed out west from kansas city this morning anticipate heavy downpours for the morning. later on this afternoon some of those will turn severe. here's what it looks like for the rest of the big picture. light rain towards northern michigan, heaviest rain stretching down through indiana and illinois at the moment, but then you get on down to the south and it's going to be hot once again today. texas, baking up there around

dallas. real hot for oklahoma. talking about temperatures feeling like 105 to 107. there is a cool down coming, though, for the weekend. trough of low pressure develops. cooler temperatures come back on in. i think the next couple days, get through that, things will begin to dry out pretty nicely. severe weather is going to be around the ohio valley towards the west of there. showers and thunderstorms south of k.c. nice weather, though, waking up to a nice start in baltimore. check out maryland. blue skies out there. dry conditions. the high today 87. that's not going to feel that warm with the low humidity value up there. a decent day, mid-atlantic to the northeast. more details in just a bit. nice start for you in baltimore. >> the kind of days you go, i'm going to start running. you run a quarter mile and you go, i'm going to start walking. >> i'm going to start sweating is what i'm going to start doing. are you planning a vacation for maybe the fall? we have some good news in a bad economy. some major discount airlines are offering to try to fill up their planes.

19 minutes to the hour. we're going to look at the papers for you so you don't have to go outside in your robe. from "the new york times" bombs made by insurgents are a growing threat to u.s. troops in afghanistan. military officers say that ieds or improvised explosive devices are becoming more common and more sophisticated. there were 465 bomb attacks on coalition forces in may alone. some shark attack survivors apparently are not holding grudges. "the washington post" says that at least nine survivors will be

on capitol hill today to push for new restrictions on shark fishing. "the chicago tribune" reports on a new court geared toward veterans. it helps vets charged with nonviolent crimes to deal with underlying problems. if you have kids they probably already told you harry potter and the half blood prince opens today. those around the world lined up for the midnight showing. movietickets.com says more than 2700 screenings sold out. variety reports the six harry potter movies could overtake the james bond series as a top grossing franchise ever. potter has earned nearly $4.5 billion. james bond, $5 billion. i know, what do you mean, kids, adults too. >> if i didn't have to be at work i would have been there. >> really? >> yeah. >> you rebel, you. okay. i don't know what to make of this, bernie madoff has a new home, the convicted scam artist transferred to a medium security prison in butner, north carolina, yesterday, but

jennifer has sound from a guy who's going to tell us what life is going to be like for bernie. >> yeah. i mean, we don't know exactly where he's going to -- if he's going to end up doing the full 150 years at butner, but this prison consultant says madoff is going to have to watch his back wherever he goes because there are so many people who want him dead. and they may be willing to pay big money through the families of other people who are at the jail to get the job done. take a listen. >> you can take a sock, this is really popular inside as a weapon, you take a sock, you put a few pad locks in it, you put a few bars of soaps in it, you bounce it off bernie's head a few times and he's done. he's out like a light and he's dead. >> this is a prison consultant? >> yeah. i mean this is -- that is chilling stuff. that guy you saw, he has said he says he spent ten years in -- i'm sorry, he's been in ten different federal prisons.

he's been on drug and security charges. he's somebody who sells his services as a prison consultant. like a coach. he tries to tell you the rules, how to survive, what it's like. very interesting, different story. i thought it was like -- >> who knew there was a wall street prison consultant. what's that say? >> well, he chose the name, wall street prison consultant. >> got you. >> he's really a prison consultant i suspect to anyone who can pay him. so i just found that really chilling, though. i mean, he's kind of a strange looking character, but i mean those are some chilling words there. >> he's been inside. >> new this morning, a thousand boeing workers are losing their job and boeing says depending on the cut funding and that's why. they're not the only ones with job losses. nasa will cut 400 workers from the space shuttle program and u.s. airways will let another 600 go. let's get to sort of the good part of the trouble here. airlines having such a tough time lately they are slashing

fares again to get you to buy a ticket. that's something of a silver lining here. cheap plane tickets, good news in a bad economy. air tran and southwest have been selling one-way fares for $39 and $49 in some cases and many of the major airlines are following suit. robin? >> good to know. thank you. fists started flying moments after a judge handed down a murder sentence. look at this tape. what in the world? you see people throwing punches outside the courtroom and in that brawl, the convicted killer's mom. px

you know, just getting scripts in here. i wanted to tell you why we're getting ready here, authorities in florida have seven in custody in the slayings of a wealthy couple known for adopting develop mentally disabled children. at a news conference this hour, the family attorney says it's clear it was a home invasion with the intent to rob the couple and she said they also

expect several more arrests. not all of the billings' children may know what happened. ashley marcom the daughter of the slain children, have only told the children that have asked if the parents are dead. nine children were home at the time of the attack. fists started flying minutes after a murder sentencing. look for yourself. a judge had just sentenced a man to life for killing an ex-police chief's son. witnesses said the convicted killer's mom pleaded with the judge. she was removed. in the end 30 people were in the hallway. police said the crowd was throwing punches. they arrested several people including the convicted killer's mom. you know, v.a. hospitals are not equipped for women. that's from a government investigation into the v.a.'s medical facility. the report says female vets are getting the basic care that they need but they're not getting any

privacy. only a third of the va clinics give woman their own private space for gin cological exams. the v.a. says its facilities are old and trying to improve. . some of baseball's biggest stars were star struck themselves when they met the president during the all-star game. this is kind of fun video to see. hi, rafer. >> good morning, robin. it's very interesting to see the role reversal, guys who are used to being looked up to and it all started with the president also looking up to somebody. this is hall of famer willie mays, a guy that the president reveres. he flew in mays on air force one to st. louis and then it was time to throw out the first pitch and he -- okay, he doesn't quite make it over the plate but he does make it without hitting the ground. before that, that's when he took the tour through the locker rooms, saying hi to some of the players. here he is shaking hands with derek jeter. ichiro suzuki getting a signed

ball from the president. for the first time in history, a guy who did not score or hit in valuable player, paul crawford, in the seventh straight all-star game. the score was tied at 3 in the seventh, and a.l. will get the home field advantage in the series. and antoine walker owes over $300,000 to three las vegas casinos. he's being charged with three felonies and has a warrant out for his arrest. earned nearly $1 million over his career. and lastly, the st. paul saints known for their special events are having twitter and facebook night. these are some of the previous events in the past like the hot club there. and fans, players, coaches and employees will all be asked to update their facebook status and photos and tweets throughout the game. called twitter my face. >> where most coaches do not

want them to twitter throughout the game, they're saying go ahead. >> now the coaches have to. >> thanks. looks like quite the amount of promotions there, haven't they? between the pictures we saw. flying was good yesterday. what about today? hi, bob. >> yeah, it's going to be pretty good, not as good as yesterday, because we have a couple delays off the bat. look at this squall line moving away from o'hare. o'hare, 15 to 30-minute delay, the rain headed toward south bend. what about the rest of the day? here's what we have. an hour more around chicago, first part of 9 the day. the afternoon looks fine. and thunderstorms around detroit, cleveland, cincinnati, st. louis, k.c. and minneapolis with some wind, rob. that's about it, though. more in a bit. >> thanks. a guy with muscular district fee went skydiving for the first time in 22 years. >> so many people out here that only dream of doing stuff like this. now this will hopefully open the door for them. >> you've got to hear and see his inspiring story.

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good morning! bright and early and very impressed with you. i'm robin meade, morning sunshine. you know, there are more arrests in the murder of a florida couple. now you're going to hear what one of the couple's daughters is saying about the murders. a swim club faces allegations of racism, and it wants another chance! why the club says it cannot be sued. and you cannot miss those bottles of five-hour energy boosters, right, at the checkout counters. wow. hey, what's in those? is it safe? first, though, our top story this morning. the family of a florida couple killed last week is speaking out, and they say that their parents loved all of the 17 children they cared for over the years. nine of the special needs kids were home when byrd and melanie billings were attacked.

none of the kids were hurt. melanie billings' daughter says she is doing everything she can to keep the family together. >> we're relieved that the people involved in had this crime have been apprehended, and we're certain that justice will be served. in the events that have unfolded in the last week and in the last couple of days have devastated our family. as you know, our mom and dad were loving, caring, giving people. they have simply been taken from our lives too soon. well, three of the seven people arrested were arraigned yesterday, and a florida sheriff just told cbs that the group trained for a month to rob the couple's home. they trained! the suspects include a 16-year-old and an air force staff sergeant. the alleged ring leader is a former national guard member. police say they are looking for an eighth suspect. it's just a story that continues to boggle your mind. it's unlikely anyone survived a plane crash this

morning in iran. 168 people were on board. state tv reports, the caspian airlines flight was on its way from tehran to armenia. it went down after takeoff about 90 miles away. emergency officials said the plane was shattered when the wreckage was burning when help arrived. in about 90 minutes, supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor will face new questions, republican and democratic senators say she responded well at her confirmation hearing yesterday. at one point, judge sotomayor faced tough questions, though, about a controversial statement. in 2001, she suggested a wise latina woman might make better legal decisions than a man. take a listen. >> this wise latina comment has been talked about a lot. but if i said anything remotely like that, my career would have been over. >> i want to state up front, unequivocally, and without doubt, i do not believe that any ethnic, racial or gender group

has an advantage in sound judging. >> well, new senator al franken may get his turn to ask questions today. president obama threw out the first pitch at baseball's all-star game, and how did he do? here is rafer with more on that. everyone talks about, did he make it over the plate, or did he not? >> he didn't quite make it over the plate. >> no! >> we've been debating that off camera. we want to let you the viewer check it out for yourself. but, yeah, he keep trotting out wearing the white sox jacket. here's the pitch and okay, just in front of the plate, but it didn't hit the ground. a lot of loud cheers. but it's tough throwing a pitch wearing a bullet proof vest. i haven't done it, just heard that. we'll have more in a few minutes. robin? coming up, you have to hear why he chose to wear that jacket, beyond the fact he is a fan of the white sox. investigators over michael jackson's death have poring

over new medical records. doctor arnold klein has been completely cooperative. last week klei nsaid he never gave jackson any dangerous drugs. >> we are continuing with our investigation. doctor klein has been cooperating with us. the rumors that doctor klein is not cooperating is not true. we're not vethdiinvestigating t doctor. we're investigating michael jackson's death, and we're contacting all of his doctors. >> well, the final report on what killed michael jackson is due out the middle of next week. a nurse who helped jackson says that when l.a. detectives interviewed her about jackson's death, they told her they found needle marks, but she said she never saw any earlier this year. four minutes after the hour. ooh, the morning rush is not a pretty one if you're living in the chicago metro area all the way up to wisconsin.

tell me, bob, what's going on? >> they have a line of showers moving into that region and now out, which is some good news. but i tell you, that rain is going to refire into severe weather later this afternoon. so areas around indiana, western ohio and down in kentucky, that's what it looks like. here is your frontal boundary and warm front, below the cold, it is going to be extremely hot again today. heat advisories and heat warnings. i'll show you those in a couple seconds. here is the radar, rain moving toward south bend and western michigan. a line of showers stretching in towards lower parts of illinois and missouri. that's what it looks like right here. here is missouri, you can see the state line. a couple showers coming in south of st. louis, and extends toward kansas. i-70, big pocket of rain. so if you're headed west, watch for the rain to get you later on, and it looks like refiring into severe weather this afternoon, too. showers and thunderstorms, you can see the entire line toward michigan and stretches back towards kansas. below it again, heat advisories out there, and heat warning, 103 to 107, a heat with a humidity

involved. you talk about the heat index, extremely hot. today, tomorrow, hot, cooling down by the weekend. severe thunderstorms, we had that, too. that's right around this area i put in red and includes most of indiana, most of lower illinois and missouri. stretching in towards kansas and then on the back side, winds going up the rocky mountains, condenses into thundershowers. some of those could pack some strong, gusty winds. the severe weather threat is there, too. how about decent weather, taking you live to miami. there's what it looks like. a couple of pockets of rain trying to come on in off and on. you can see it there. it's typical summertime weather for you, miami. up to 91, 92. a couple showers and thunderstorms developing this afternoon. but, again, no big deal. no severe weather. but i just love looking at miami. i love it. >> even when it's raining, huh? >> doesn't matter. if we could zoom into the beach, it's even better. there you go, rob. more details in about a half hour. >> all right. look at this. this plane plummeted to the ground and you've got to hear about what happened once it went to the ground. amazingly, everyone is okay.

in our salute to the troops, i want to show you some of the cutest pictures. today's salute is for specialist thomas kirkwood in afghanistan on a second deployment. and look at this little baby. his wife says she and her son dallas miss him so much and they're anxious for him to come home. maybe you have someone in the service and want to salute them. go to cnn.com/robin. a lawsuit could ruin a swim club accused of turning away kids because of race. that is the director's wife. she wishes they could have a do-over. the club says they were turned away because of overcrowding. they were invited back, but the day club has refused and may sue. stunning video shows the inside of a plane with a football-sized hole in it.

the hole appeared monday on a southwest airlines flight from nashville to baltimore. the plane was flying at about 34,000 feet when the crew reported the hole. now, it landed safely in had charleston, west virginia. a passenger talked with campbell brown on our sister network, cnn, about it. >> the first sound i heard, it was like a pop. and then a very loud roar, like being next to a blast furnace. and i took a baseball cap off my face, and looked around, and noticed everybody was looking directly above my seat. and i looked up, and i had had to do a double take. >> yeah, that's when you really make sure that you're buckled in your seatbelt. they don't really know what caused it. southwest airlines says inspectors found nothing unusual, in dozens of other planes of the same model. say you have a fight with your credit card company, and you go to the mat and you go to arbitration. well, minnesota prosecutors allege the deck is stacked against you big-time.

our money expert jennifer west home. so maybe we're supposed to know this, but most of us don't. >> no. and i think you might say, well, if it i have a big fight with my credit card company, you know, if i have to, i can go to court. well, when you get that card, you basically sign away your right to sue. and most cards, it's all in the fine print. you agree that any legal fights you will settle in arbitration. so what is -- what if the arbitration is biassed for the credit card companies? that is the allegation from minnesota's attorney general. they're talking about one arbitration company. the lawsuit says that out of 18,000 cases, more than 99% went the way of the credit card companies. now, that arbitration company says it vigorously disagrees with any of these allegations, but something interesting to look out for. there have been a couple of lawsuits like this. and you know, you want to think that when you go to arbitration, things are fair and impartial. this might be a huge help if you've lost your job and can't

figure out how to make your monthly mortgage payment. a white house official says the president is looking at new ways to help jobless homeowners keep their homes and stay out of foreclosure, according to reuters. one of the ideas they're looking at is they would let delinquent homeowners -- you would have to give away the ownership of your home, but could continue to stay in it, rent your homestead for a few years. >> gotcha, so you're the one renting it. >> it gives you stability. you don't get to keep your home, you don't get to keep the title, but you're also not out with your family on the street. >> yeah, you've got a roof over your head. absolutely. you know those bottles that promise you five hours of energy without a crash later? well, our chief medical correspondent, doctor sanjay gupta is checking out those claims and whether the drinks are safe!

you know, some amazing video of a near-miss. you have to come out here and watch right now. the pilot in this plane was doing aerobatics on sunday. the plane didn't come up in time, and it hit a family's car on the road! three people in the car, and the pilot all escaped with minor injuries. i want you to watch it in slow-mo here. it came close enough to hit them, right? look at the people on the road when this plane comes down. what do you do if you're in the car or worse yet, on a bike? yeah. you know you have seen those tiny bottles of five-hour energy shots at the checkout counters, and i need to point out every time i turn around, the duration of the energy shots gets longer. like marketing, right? first it was like three hours, now it's five-hour! the makers claim that all you need are just two ounces of this energy juice to get some natural spike in your energy. so, doctor sanjay gupta, who i'm note going to say whether he is taking it or not. >> wait a second. i'm just the reporter here. >> yeah, exactly.

how do they work, and are they safe? that's the question? >> first, you're the demo. these are targeted towards you. people think of these for young kids. no, they're for people who are working professionals now, that's who they're targeting and a lot of moms take these, as well. a lot of people ask, is it safe. and the real answer is, we don't know. the tendency to say is five hours is good, and ten hours is better so people don't take it moderation. we tried to dissect and figure out what causes it to work. it's made up of a bunch of b vitamins, b3, b6, b12, in very high doses. b3 in my asin and in high doses could make your skin tingle. unclear whether it causes boost in energy. what really caught our eye was this energy blend at the bottom there, a lot of names you can't pronounce. a lot of these are just natural amino acids in really high doses

in the body. but the one at the bottom. caffeine. they give you caffeine, they give you no sugar. that's probably what really causes it to work is the caffeine, you know, good old fashioned caffeine, much more so than anything else. >> i mean, it feels completely different. and i'm not just saying this brand. i don't know if i've ever taken this brand. but they're all kinds of brands out there. but it feels completely different than just drinking something that has caffeine in it. >> what they say is it gives you the boost without the crash. that's the big marketing campaign around this particular product and some other products, as well, as you mentioneded. here's what we know. if you take a lot of caffeine without sugar, you can get those sort of effects. it's usually the sugar that causes the crash. sugar gives you a high boost of energy initially, but as it wears off, you crash. so a drink like this doesn't have the sugar, that's probably what's giving you the benefit. again, all these other things, the amino acids, the high b vitami vitamins, we don't know. and it could have some side effects, again with the nyacin.

>> so you're talking about that brand in particular? >> this we dissected down and it's that five-hour energy drink. some make claims in terms of durations. this says five hours. we just did ourin formal polling, people take four or five a day. the people at the mayo clinic say one a week is enough, one a day perhaps, but people don't take things in moderation. >> once again, i don't think i've ever taken that brand, but sometimes when i take these energy drinks -- not before a show, i swear, my leg muscles tighten up, like you get so much caffeine or whatever it is. >> right. >> they just like bottled up energy. >> a lot of people complain of different side effects, as well. and again, you have this energy blend which is sort of this mysterious name. how these things act in combination, what sort of side effects they have, hard to say. >> interesting. all right, thank you. >> you don't need it, by the é way.é you always have lots of energy, as far as i can tell. >> naturally. so five of those.

bad. remember. note to self. i'm rafer weigel with sports. some of baseball's biggest stars were star-struck when president obama paid them a visit before last night's all-star game. the president visited both clubhouses before the game, and threw the first pitch out and wore the white sox jacket because his wife said, he, quote, looked cute in it. but did he get it across the plate? more in the next half hour. and then the play of the game in the seventh inning, tied at three with brad hoppel hitting what looks to be a home run which would put the national league up ahead, but he is robbed by carl crawford of tampa bay. so he gets the mvp and american win's all-star game. and an american league all-star pitcher, edwin jackson showed his respect for some real heroes, the men and women serving overseas. jackson in st. louis played specialist daniel pissac in a

video conference with 20 members of the national guard behind him over his shoulder cheering him on. they weren't cheering right there, but rooting for him. he is the son of a retired soldier. and imagine not being let into a building named after you. no, mr. wrigley did not show up at wrigley field, but the chicago cubs equipment manager for 65 years was asked to leave. he retired and had the clubhouse named after him, paid the park a visit on an off day, but security kicked him out, citing health concerns for him. executives plan to make it up to him. >> that's a little embarrassing. new comments this hour from lawmakers battling over plans to completely overhaul the health care system. president obama says that there is no choice, because the system is broken. house democrats want every american covered. it would mean higher taxes on the wealthy. senate democrats are working on at alternatives that wouldn't be quite as expensive. republicans say it all sounds like a bad idea. >> this is a defining moment for

our country. we are about to undertake what has eluded so many presidents and congresses for far too long. and that is the objective of getting good quality, affordable health care insurance to every american. >> most of us are scratching our heads, wondering how you can design a plan in order to try to cover the uninsured, bring more people into the coverage, and still save money. in fact, that won't happen. >> well, three house committees are expected to start voting on their bill tomorrow. the senate could start its debate within the next two weeks. new details this morning on the case of a u.s. senator who admitted to having an affair. he says he's getting some high-ranking support! support! in his troubles.

[ music ] >> welcome to comcast local edition, i'm donna richardson, and my guest this hour is christine bergmark who is the executive director of the southern maryland agricultural development commission. welcome, christine, it's good to have you here. >> thank you for having me. >> that's a big mouthful, and i know that you're working on an extremely exciting program, bi-local challenge. >> it is an initial that we launched two years ago, and essentially what it is is the last full week of july we ask everyone across the state of maryland and beyond to take a pledge, and the pledge is eat something or drink from a farm every day during that week. >> oh. so where do we get the

information about where to find the farms or how do we sign up for this pledge? >> well, there's a website. it's www.by-local-challenge.com that website will give you all sorts of information why to buy local and where to buy local and it connects you to other statewide initiatives that are going on at the same time. if you go to the website, we've added a count. people used to say, where do i sign up? normally you have to go buy, eat something from a local farm. this year we decided to add a counter to the website. when you are' counted, you can receive a certificate with your name on it that you can put up in your office or your home or wherever. >> which is very, very important. it's reduces your carbon foot print because you're driving hopefully a shorter distance, you have access to local

products that are available, and also it helps the farmers. >> well, and in fact, our theme this year is healthy plate, healthy planet. all kinds of benefits to buying local, benefits for you, healthy, nutrition, it's fresh, and preserving our farms survive, we keep clean water, we keep clean air, we reduce the carbon footprints from things traveling 1500 miles, and it tastes good. >> exactly. now for those people who may not cook, how can they be a part of this? >> yeah, sometimes people say, well, i hate to cook. that's okay. you can go to a store or to a restaurant that features local farm products, and there are more and more restaurants every year, some of them are on our website, and you can click throughout to find out who they are,. >> what kind of items can we acquire localfully. >> during the last week of july,

there is so much product available. there's sweet corn, blackberries, all kinds of tomatoes and melons are in season, and of course, there's always wine, cheese, eggs, meatss. >> so we do have a wide variety of things we can get. say that i go and i go to a local farmer's market and purchase something, what is a vegetable that i'm not quite familiar with, how did i find a recipe. >> excellent question. there are recipes on our website. people can post their own recipes of their own events and own blogs by why they buy local. some of the things i wanted to mention is the economic benefits. we talked about the planet, we talked about the fact that it tastes good, and it's fun, but there's also the benefit of

supporting our farms, and if every household in the state mucofmaryland were to buy just 2 worth of products for 8 weeks, basically the summer season that, would put $200 million straight back into the pockets of our farmers. that would do a lot to keep our farmers thriving. >> which is so important. i know we have less than 30 seconds, but you have some partners that you wouldn't typically think of who have now joined in. >> yes. hospitals are joining in this year. fact, they're looking to do a competition to see how many people they can get involved. >> have you exciting. christine, thank you very much for coming in today. >> thank you. >> my guest today has been christine bergmark with the southern agricultural commission. if you're interested in what comcast is doing in your area, go to on demand and click get local. for comcast local edition, i'm donna richardson. [ music ]

breaking news this morning. it is believed that all 16 people died in this morning's plane crash in iran. an iranian newspaper says the caspian airlines flight was on its way from tehran to armenia. a politician's website reports now that members of the country's youth judo team were on board. a huge quake followed by a big aftershock rocked new zealand this morning. it prompted a tsunami warning there, and thousands of miles away in hawaii. but they were quickly cancelled. so far, no reports of any major damage. police say records the at burr oaks cemetery were found rotting in a rusty file cabinet, and also have gotten 65,000 requests from families wanting info about loved ones buried at

that chicago area cemetery. four people are accused of reselling the burial plots. this is a few of the stories we have going on this morning. i just wanted to check in with you and say morning sunshine, i'm robin meade, we always appreciate your viewership. a funeral will be held friday for a florida couple killed in their home with nine of their kids nearby. in just the past hour, byrd and melanie billings' daughter told reporters that she is trying to keep the family together. the couple cared for 17 children over the years. none of the kids in the home during the attack were hurt. >> they have asked. they -- we've shielded them as much as possible, and that's probably my fault. i know they need to know. they have asked questions. it has been talked about with the ones who have asked questions. >> well, many of the kids in billings took -- that the billings took in had special needs. and hln mike galanos interviewed

the principal. >> did you ever ask them their philosophy in life and why they go to such an extent for people? >> well, they had one handicapped child, and i think melanie was born for this. all she ever wanted to do was be a mommy. and she had a special affection for special needs children. and especially children with down syndrome. and that was a driving force for her. and it's amazing, but she could love all of those children like you would love one child. get the latest on any developments on that story on prime news with mike galanos. it starts at 5:00 p.m. eastern right here on hln. in about an hour, supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor will face new questions. now, republican and democrat senators say she responded well

at her confirmation hearing yesterday. at one point, judge sotomayor faced tough questions, though, about a controversial statement. in 2001, she suggested a wise latina woman might make better legal decisions than a white man. the comment was in a speech she gave to law students. >> the intent of the speech, its structure, was to inspire them to believe, as i do, as i think everyone does, that life experiences enrich the legal system. >> sotomayor also carefully answered questions about abortion and gun control. she said the roe vs. wade ruling settled law and supports the second amendment right to bear arms. the battle over michael jackson's children may not get settled easily. the lawyer for debby row says she is not sure what she is going to do. she has agreed to take $4

million in exchange for not battling jackson's mother for custody. it wouldn't be surprising if money enters the equation. >> because of the absence of a real relationship between her and those two children, she probably -- or she might not get custody, but it would be in the jackson family's interest to give her some money to go away, which is a big profit potential for her. >> well, a child custody hearing had been set for this week, but a court official says it's been pushed back until next monday. news right now, comments from the director of that day camp, which was asked to leave a private swim club. most of the kids at the camp are minorities, and the camp may sue, claiming discrimination. but the club director's wife says they don't have the money for a suit. the club has said that the kids were turned away because of overcrowding. >> they have not just one pool, but two pools. and one pool is 110,000 gallon

pool, and the other pool is a 1-foot pool for nonswimmers. and he had 3 to 4 life guards and i had 8 staff members, and my son's school was there a week before with 56 children. well, the swim club has said it invited the kids back, but the day camp director you just heard from says she never got an invitation, just text and phone messages, asking her to call the club back. fists started flying minutes after a murder sentencing. look for yourself. what in the world? a judge had just sentenced a man to life for killing an ex police chief's son. witnesses said that the convicted killer's mom pleaded with the judge. she was removed. and in the end, 30 people were in the hallway. the crowd was throwing punches. they arrested several people, including the convicted killer's mom. the same court system has

had other types of dejavu moments here, where people are throwing punches at each other. 35 minutes here past the hour. hope you're on time. whew, baby! where is it going to be hot today? >> in texas, be rob, oklahoma and kansas, too. but a couple more days of scorching temperatures and then cooler air comes from the north and starts to cool you down into the low 90s friday or saturday around dallas. so another hot one, starting out at 81, 79 in oklahoma city. this is the same area that has the heat advisory throughout the afternoon, including areas shaded in red. to the west, 87 degrees in las vegas. 93 degrees in phoenix right now. how about the highs for the day? here's what we're going for. and, again, extremely hot for areas around las vegas. getting up to about 108 to 110. there's a heat watch for you for tomorrow for las vegas and phoenix for the weekend. it's going to be 116 saturday and sunday in phoenix. it's going to be 110 to 112 tomorrow in las vegas. there is your heat. but a cooldown coming for the

lower part of that region. dallas and houston, that will be this weekend, too. all right. so what about the rest of the action? a little heat with a cold front up to the north. severe thunderstorms possible today, right around that frontal boundary and that's the areas i put in red. all of indiana, parts of western ken. back into lower illinois. parts of missouri, too. and up slope winds around the rocky mountains, severe storms possible. even colorado and new mexico, too. here is your warm front around chicago. zoom towards your radar shot and you can see most of the heavy rain has pulled toward the chicagoland area toward south bend and toward western parts of michigan. down the line farther, though, it's a little more intense. you can see the thunderstorms coming in, just in the lower parts of illinois. you can see it there. st. louis right now, a couple thunderstorms basically ringing around the city. you can see a couple off and on today and more activity popping up this afternoon. back across west, you can see some showers and pockets of rain right around central parts of kansas. but really, that's about it. look at the squall line itself, you can see it's headed toward the east, so detroit, you're

going to get some rain. speaking of severe weather, let me show you video from yesterday, an aftermath of a tornado that hit spicer, minnesota. peeled off the roof, a couple houses damaged right there, even peeled so far shingles and siding from a mall nearby. look at that. you can see what it looks like. that was one of four tornado reports for minnesota yesterday afternoon. more on that, rob, in about a half hour. >> terrible. >> yes. you know, are you -- i know, regardless of these pictures that we're seeing here. are you planning a vacation for this fall? well, we have some good news in this bad economy. some major discounts that airlines are offering to try to fill up those planes! >>

let us take a look at the

morning papers, and you don't even have to go outside in your robe. hopefully you're in your robe. for the "new york times" bombs made by insurgents are a growing threat to troops in afghanistan. military officers say ieds or improvised explosive devices are becoming more common and more sophisticat sophisticated. there were 465 bomb attacks on coalition forces in may alone. . some shark attack survivors apparently are not holding grudges. the "washington post" says at least nine survivors will be on capitol hill to push for new restrictions today on shark fishing. the "chicago tribune" is focusing on a new court geared toward veterans. it deals with underlying problems. and those are some of the paper stories. a 25-foot shark that washed ashore has now died. the shark was found yesterday in babylon, new york. officials say it looks like the

shark was sick somehow. after it died, they plan to bury it in nearby sand duns. look how big it is. humongous! >> isn't there a thing if you bury it in the sand dunes, other sharks come because they can smell it? >> an interesting point you make there. you can see how big it is. you know bernie madoff has a new home. the convicted scam artist was transferred to a medium security prison in north carolina yesterday. well, jennifer has some conversation from an interesting guy who apparently knows what life is like on the inside. good morning. >> this was such a strange interview that was on "american morning" with this prison coach who says that butner, which is where madoff is going, is known for a lot of child month lesters there. we don't know if madoff is going to spend the full 150 years or whatever part of that he lives through at butner, but this

prison consultant says wherever he ends up, he is going to have to watch his back, because there are a lot of people out to get madoff on the outside who are going to be will to go pay money to the family of people on the inside to get the job done. take a listen. >> you can take a sock, this is really popular inside as a weapon. you take a sock, you put a few pad locks in it, a few bars of soap in it, you bounce it off bernie's head a few times, and he's done. out like a light, and he's dead. >> wow -- i mean, he is such a character that, you know, it's almost comedic, but it's chilling. a chilling thing to say. so this guy coaches people on what it's going to be like in prison, how to survive, and spent time in ten different federal prisons on drug and security offenses. the judge in this case has said he would recommend transfer to ú prison in the northeast. also this morning, 1,000 boeing workers are losing their jobs. boeing is blaming pentagon cuts,

and that's not the only company with job cuts to talk about. us airways will let people go, and nasa says it's going to cut 400 workers in the space schultz programs. and us airways, we have talked about planes and the troubles they have been facing. they're having such a hard time with their business, they are slashing fares to try and get you to buy a ticket. they really need the revenue right now. cheap plane tickets, that's some good news in a bad economy. air tran and southwest are selling one-way fares for as low as 40 and $50 in some cases. of course, that is before all of the fees you have to pay, but still it's a help. and many major airlines are matching or cutting fares to stay competitive. they announced it a couple days ago, but they're extending fare sales now, and i think you may just find that maybe before you thought i cannot afford a vacation, maybe time to take a second look. might be possible. >> so look again. good advice. you know, president obama threw out the first pitch at the mlb all-star game. now, the question is, did he

make it over the plate, or did he not? you're going to have to make the call.

so it is a big day at hogwarts. the latest harry potter film, "harry potter and the half-blood prince" is out. >> i know what you did malfoy. you hacked it, didn't you? >> wow. harry is in year six of the hogwarts school. that means he's just one year from graduation. that also means the final battle between good and evil is fast-approaching. critics generally seem to think that this chapter of the book series works well on the big screen. not that these fans care what the critics say. they lined up for a midnight showing. movietickets.com say more than 2700 screenings shoulder out. the sixth harry potter movie could oversake the james bond series as a top grossing

franchise ever. so far it's earned $4.5 billion, james bond, $5 billion. >> so he's on the seven year college plan, like i was. >> some of baseball's biggest stars -- i mean, think about how many people walk up to them and they're all-star struck. so it's kind of fun to see them get star-struck over the president. and we have video of that, rafer. >> yes, and every president has people who like him and don't like him. regardless of how you feel, watching this role reversal is actually pretty endearing. first of all, the president picked up someone who he is in uh of and that is hall of famer willie mays. the president flew him into st. louis, and then it's time to throw out the first pitch, wearing his white sox jacket which his wife said he looked cute in. he didn't make it over the plate, but pretty good. and before that, meeting the players, penya and derek jeter smiling ear to ear, and look at

this, suzuki getting a signed baseball. that's an all-star smiling like a little kid! and as far as the game itself for the first time in history a guy who did not score a run or hit one in was named most valuable player, carl crawford who robbed a run on this catch. we'll show it to you again. he gets the award as the american league wins their seventh straight all-star game. so how does a guy who made almost $100 million have money problems? former all star antoine walker owes to three casinos. he played 12 years in the nba. he took out markers but did not pay it back. he is facing three felonies and has a warrant out for his arrest now. and the st. paul saints will have twitter and facebook night. we're showing some of the wild things they have done in the past at this park. the hot tub and massages and four-course meals. but next week, fans, players, coaches and employees will all be asked to update their

facebook status and tweet and send photos throughout the game. >> i think that is so throughout the game. >> i think it's so cute. it's funny because most coaches and players don't like you tweeting during the game if you're a player or a coach. >> coaches get mad at players for tweeting during the game. not this kind. jet america was supposed to take off this month, but there's a delay. hln money expert clark howard tells you why and what happens if you bought a ticket. >> okay. do you know jet america was already supposed to be in the air? they've heard me talk about what a neat thing it was that they were going to offer, in fact, were selling $9 seats. a number of $9 seats per flight for their route system mostly concentrating in the eastern half of the united states,s at least to start. except the start? there hasn't been one and now

what are they going to do? they're blaming the whole thing on the federal government saying the feds didn't give them the slots they needed at newark airport inned order to be able to get the airline up and running. so, gosh, if you bought one of the tickets from jet america and you can't work out an accommodation with them to get your money back, what do you do? if you pay by credited card, you dispute the charge with your credit card company to get the money back. i for one hope they pull this off. because flying for 9 bucks? what a deal. i'm clark howard. for more deals, go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> clark will teach you to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. catch him noon eastern saturdays and sundays right here. a man with muscular dystrophy went skydiving. you've got to hear to see his inspiring story.

well, good morning. the alark clock is going off. it's wednesday, sometimes the toughest day. morning, sunshine. here's what's going on today in the news. more arrests in the murder of a florida couple. officials won't reveal the identity of one of the suspects. breaking news this morning, a jetliner has gone down in the middle east. we have are the latest pictures from the crash site. plus, a brawl breaks out in a courthouse and it started right after a man was sentenced for murder. first, our top story today, the family of a florida couple killed is speaking out. a couple's daughter said that her parents loved all of the 17 children they cared for, 9 of the special needs kids were home

when byrd and melanie billings were attacked. none of the kids were attacked. the daughter is saying she's doing everything she can to keep the family together. >> nothing will ever take away the pain, the love, prayers and support has helped us as we've grieved. we know that our parents are looking down on us from heaven. we will continue to draw upon the memory of their warmth, compassion, love, and strength as we continue through these difficult days. and we know they will be by our side every step of the way. >> three of the seven people arrested in the case were arraigned yesterday. a florida sheriff says the group trained for a month to rob the couple's home. they traened for it. the suspects include a 16-year-old, an air force staff sergeant, the alleged ring laider is a former national guard member. in about 30 minutes, sonia sotomayor will face a new round of questions. republicans and democratic

senators say that she responded well at her confirmation hearing yesterday. at one point judge sotomayor faced tough questions, though, about a controversial statement. in 2001 she suggested a wise latina woman might make better legal decisions than a white man. listen yesterday. >> i want to state up-front, unequivocally and without doubt i do not believe that any ethnicing, racial, or gender group has an advantage in sound judging. i believe my record of 17 years demonstrates fully that i do believe that judges must apply the law and not make the law. my record shows that at no point or time have i ever permitted my personal views or sympathies to influence the outcome of a case. the job of a judge is to apply the law and to -- it's not the

heart that compels conclusions in cases. it's the law. >> well, new senator al franken may get his turn to ask questions at today's hearing. he is the newest member of the senate judiciary committee. breaking news this morning, officials are now saying that a plane crash this morning killed 168 people. the caspian airlines flight was on its way from iran to armenia. it went down shortly after takeoff. ten members of the youth judo team were said to be on board investigators looking into michael jackson's death are poring over new medical records. yesterday l.a.'s assistant chief coroner went to the office of jackson's dermatologist. he says that dr. arnold klein has been cooperating. remember klein said he never gave jackson any dangerous drugs on our sister network cnn? >> we are continuing with our investigation.

dr. klein and his staff is cooperating with it. the rumors that dr. klein is not cooperating with us are not true. we're not investigating the doctor. we're investigating michael jackson's death and contacting all of his doctors. >> well, the final report on what killed michael jackson is due out the middle of next week. a nurse who helped jackson says that when with l.a. detectives interviewed her about jackson's death they told her they found needle marks but she says she never saw any earlier this year. new this morning, kmrents of the director of the day camp which was asked to leave a private swim club. most of of the kids at the camp were minorities and the camp may sue claiming discrimination. the club director's wife says the club doesn't have the money for the lawsuit. they want a do-over and invited the kids back. >> the only thing i've received is a text message and e-mail stating to call. we have not been welcomed back

to the club. my attorneys have not received any written vision invitation for us to come back. the only thing i've heard is third party. >> the club has said that the kids were turned away because of overcrowding. the camp director said there was plenty of room and staff. president obama threw out the first pitch at the all-star game. there's a lot of pressure when you're throwing out the first pitch. mostly to get it over the plate. here's more. >> he was pretty self-effacing. he made a joke and said his pitch clocked in around 30 miles an hour or so. but check it out for yourself. with the whole world watching wearing a white sox jacket with a bulletproof vest on underneath, the president marched to the mound, allowed cheers, the windup and the toss and here we go. albert pujols sitting there to catch. it didn't quite make it, not bad. wait until you hear why he says he wore the white sox jacket. that in about ten minutes.

it's not because he necessarily likes the team, which he does. >> there's another good reason. tsunami advisory for hawaii has been canceled. a 7.8 quake struck off the west coast of new zealand about four hours ago. a big aftershock hit about 20 minutes later. so far we're not hearing about major damage in new zealand. there is downed power and phone lines. six minutes after the hour. we have a system moving through, which means rain for a lot of folks whoxt has a bad morning rush? >> right now northern indiana, missouri, michigan. here's your area of low pressure. you can see it up across northern canada, towards minnesota. that cold front goes all the way back down into the rocky mountains. that's going to usher in cooler temperatures for you starting probably thursday into friday and then getting into saturday and sunday for lower parts of texas. you finally see a cool-down,

even though a couple days in coming. sho chicago, the low clouds are out there. let me take you live. here's what it looks like. clouds are in place, o'hare has a 30 to 45-minute delay because of the low clouds. that will be there for the morning, later today, little sunshine, still the possibility for a thunderstorm late today. the heaviest raib rain i think has been through and will chug to the east. south of chicago, toward champaign, springfield, a lot of rain, thunderstorms just north of st. louis. it's raining in that city right now. over to the west, cold pront in place when you get toward kansas, couple of pockets of rain. it's not severe, not even that heavy anymore. it's still out there by i-70 across central kansas. big picture shows a nice drying trend across the east coast, to the southeast and a decent day for the west coast again. look at some of the temperatures already starting out on a warm note, 82 in dallas, 77 in austin. you add that plus the humidity, it will feel like about 105 to 107 when you get toward tulsa,

103 to 107 for the rest of the area in red. more on that in about a half hour. >> all right. some amazing video of a near-miss. you have to step out to see it if you're getting ready in the bathroom and listening. the pilot of this plane was doing some arrow bot icks near frankfurt on sunday. obviously the plane didn't come up in time. it hits a family's car on the road. the three people in the car and the pilot all escaped with minor injuries. amazing. a judge handed down a murder sentence. check this out. fists started flying. you see people throwing punches and in that brawl the convicted killer's mom. man, do we have video today.

in our salute to the troops, today's salute is for specialist

thomas kirkwood. he's in afghanistan on a second deployment. thomas' wife says she and their son dallas miss him so. and are aims fnxious for him to home. want to give you an opportunity to give troops a salute. go to cnn.com/robin. the nevada senator who had an affair with a staffer says he doesn't plan to resign. in fact, john ensign says he wants to run for reelection. remember his parents gave his mistre mistress's family almost $100 thoushg. the republican told the laus sun that senate latters support him. but mitch mcconnell says ensign should speak on those issues himself. fists really started flying minutes after a murder sentencing. look at this video. a judge had just sentenced a man to life for killing an ex-police chief's son. witnesses said that the

convicted killer's mom pleaded with the judge. she was removed. in the end, 30 people were in the hallway. the crowd was throwing punches. they arrested several people, including the convicted killer's mom. a major oil company is working to come up with a new biofuel and it could be made from stuff from a pond. jennifer westhoven is here. what you got? i'm thinking of scum. >> i know you want an electric car, but what if it ran on water, sunlight and pond scum. >> maybe anything that someone else doesn't regulate the cost on. >> exxon will spend hundreds of millions of dollars researching fuel made from algae. they think they may be able to come up with strains that could actually suck up greenhouse gases so that would fight global warming. this is a huge turnaround for

exxon mobil. for years they snubbed biofuels. there's a famous line where the ceo dismissed biofuels. even at my own funeral they're probably going to drive me in a hearse that's driving on gas or diesel, not biofuel. bernie madoff, new home. he was transferred to a medium-security prison in north carolina. a prison consultant told cnn on "american morning" that it will be very dangerous for madoff. >> i don't see bernie making it. i see someone taking bernie out. they'll take him out with a shank. they'll cause a disturbance in the institution, in the dining hall, the rec yard. you cause a disturbance, the cops are raising over there, someone is sticking a knife in bernie on the other side. he'll leave in a bag or a box. this man is going to have to watch his back until the day he dies. >> those are scary words. that person is a prison consultant. he gets paid to tell people what

it's like in jail, how to survive, what rules are. he's talking from experience. he spent time in ten different federal lockups. he's been in the joint. those first three years are going to be the roughest for old bernie madoff. shaw shank redemption. good morning, jen. let's show you what's going on. traveling toward o'hare or midway, you'll see delays. o'hare just about out of a ground stop, but then you open it up to 30 or 45-minute delays on top of that. here's lake michigan, o'hare ord, midway. you see the plains coming in and out. here's your xbaul chugging toward michigan and indiana. more thunderstorms possible behind that, but i think it's the low clouds that will get you for the morning. the rest of the day, chicago hour or more, then the thunderstorm line develops this afternoon with daytime heating, detroit, cleveland, cincinnati, st. louis, kansas city, minneapolis, gusty winds, 30-minute to one-hour delays.

the mlb all-star game, plenty of highlights. >> plenty of highlights. some of the biggest stars, some of the biggest names in the game. one all-star wanted to pay tribute to someone who he said wases an even bigger hero, an american soldier serving overseas. we'll show you how he did it.

the house intelligence committee once documents about a cia program to kill al qaeda leaders that they knew nothing about. the new cia chief told them that former vice president dick cheney kept it from congress. now, democrats say that that's against the law. they may push for a full investigation. but two former intelligence officials say that cheney's getting a bum rap because the program never got off the ground. stunning video shows the inside of a plane that has a football-sized hole in it. the hole appeared monday on a southwest airlines flight from nashville to baltimore. the plane was flying at about 34,000 feet when the crew reported the hole. it landed safely in charleston, with of west virginia.

a passenger spoke with cnn. >> the fist sound i heard was like a pop, then a very loud roar, like being next to a blast furnace. and i took the baseball cap off my face and looked around and noticed everybody was looking directly above my seat. and i looked up and i had to do a double-take. >> wow. it is unclear what caused the hole. southwest is says that inspeblgtors found nothing unusual in dozens of other planes of that same model. you know those little bottles promising you five hours of energy without a crash later? well, i spoke with our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta about how energy drinks work and if they're safe. >> here's what we know. if you take a lot of caffeine without sugar you can get those effects. it's usually the sugar that gives you the crash, it it gives you a boost but as the sugar wears off you crash. so you take a drink like this, doesn't have the sugar, that's probably what's giving you the benefit. again, all these other things,

the amino acids, b vitamins, we don't know if it causes any boost in energy. we know it could have side effects cause you to feel flushed or tingly skin. >> dr. gupta also says that mayo clinic suggests only taking the product once a week, not several in one day like i know a lot of people do. how do you go to sleep after you've had several? >> you can't. president obama made a special appearance at baseball's all-star game, wearing his team's colors. wait million yuntil you hear hi. obviously because he cheers for the team but there was something else. >> he said he wore his white sox jacket because his wife says he looks cute in it. seven years of marriage, that is a darn good reason to do anything when your wife says you should do it. president obama then got to meet -- there was only one white sox player on the roster. that's a different video. let's show you willie mays who

the president is in awe of. he actually picked up willie mays and brought him in on air force one with. he didn't quite get the first pitch over the plate, but still a pretty good throw. then there he is meeting some of the players, derek jeter here shaking hands. watch as he signs a baseball for sue suk zi. this would be the play of the game. tied at 3 in the seventh. carl kroufrd robs what looks like will be a home run to put the national league up. let's show it to you again. that would be the difference maker. the american league wins. he was named mvp. edwin jackson showed him respect for some of the real heroes, the men and women serving overseas. jackson in st. louis played video he teleconference. 20 members cheered them on and don't seem too excited but they

were. jack xon is a son of a retired soldier. imagine not being let into a building name after you. the chicago cubs' equipment manager for 65 years was asked to leave wrigley field recently. he's not named wrigley, but the 88-year-old had the club house named after him. he has since retired but likes to visit the stadium on offdays. they were concerned about his health. >> that's embarrassing. new senator al franken is already the source of late-night laughs. jon stewart talked about seeing a former comedian turned senator on capitol hill. >> how weird was it to see al franken there? >> incredible honor to be here less than a week into my term as united states senator. >> i just kept expecting to go "live from new york"!

>> franken won five emmys on snlment he won a minnesota senate seat after a long post-election battle. a backpacker's hike turned into a fight to stay alive. not long ago, this man had limited mobility.

last month, this woman wasn't even able to get around inside of her own home. they chose mobility. and they chose the scooter store! if you or a loved one live with limited mobility call the scooter store! no other company will work harder to make you mobile or do more to guarantee your complete satisfaction. if we pre-qualify you for a new power chair or scooter and your claim isn't approved, the scooter store will give you your power chair or scooter free. that's our guarantee. they were so helpful and nice. they filed all the paperwork, and medicare and my insurance covered the cost. we can work directly with medicare or with your insurance company. we can even help with financing. if there's a way, we'll find it! so don't wait any longer,

well, good morning. the new york stock exchange is now open for business. you mow, it looks like tech stocks will help the market start off on a high note today. one company is apparently doing pretty well despite the recession. a live report in about five minutes. first, though, breaking news. all 168 people died in this morning's plane crash that happened in iran. an iranian newspaper reports that the caspian airlines flight was on its way from tehran to armenia. members of iran's youth judo team were said to be on board. a huge quake followed by a aftershock rocked new zealand leading to a zu name warning and tsunami advisory in hawaii. they were quickly canceled. no reports of major damage.

police say that records at the burr oak cemetery where oh, workers accused of digging up bodies were found rotting. they've gotten 65,000 requests from families wanting info about loved ones buried there. four people are accused of reselling the burial plots. we're getting started again, 31 minutes past the hour. good morning, sunshine. i'm robin meade. here is again what's happening. right now supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor is about to start day three of her confirmation hearings. there is a live picture. she got high marks for handling nearly seven hours of questions yesterday. makes me wonder if she's thinking, how long will it go today? judge sotomayor faced tough questions on her views on the second amendment, your right to bear arms. let's listen. >> that footnote that you wrote leaves the impression that unless the rights to bear arms is considered fundamental, any

gun restriction is necessarily permissible under the second amendment. is that what you believe? >> no, sir. i'm not taking an opinion on that issue because it's an open question. >> so you admit it's an open question. >> well, i admit that justice -- i admit. the courts have been addressing that question. the supreme court in the opinion authored by justice scalia suggested that it was a question that the court should consider. >> well, new senator al franken may get his turn to ask questions today. he is the newest member of the committee. a funeral will be held friday for a florida couple killed in their home with nine of their adopted kids nearby. this morning byrd and melanie billings' daughter told reporters that the family is setting up a trust for all the public donations they've received. and she said she's been trying to protect the children from news about their parents' death.

>> they have asked. they -- we've shielded them as much as possible. that's probably my fault. i know that they need to know. they have asked questions. it has been talked about with the ones who have asked questions. >> three of the seven people arrested in the case were arraigned yesterday. a florida sheriff says the group rained for a month to rob the couple's home. the suspects include a 16-year-old an air staff sergeant. some of the stories we're already watching for today, in about half an hour, senators start a hearing on the real i.d. act, sets federal standards for state-issued i.d.s to make them more secure. the home land security secretary will testify about a new plan. at 1:00 eastern, secretary of state hillary clinton lays out her foreign policy agenda. mass sa is going to try again tonight to launch the space shulette "endeavor."

check out the live pictures from the kennedy space center. i thought it was blue skies now it looks gray. this is the sixth try for the mission. thunderstorms delayed the mission three times and gas leaks have caused two delays. meanwhile, nasa says it will have to lay off 400 employees, most of the layoffs will be volunteer and about 60% will be among workers in florida. yes or no, bob? do you think it will go tonight? >> i think they fire it off tonight, yes. you still have the thunderstorms but i think they'll get it up. there will be a hole they'll shoo shoot it through. 6:03. i wish the window was earlier. what about the heat? this is what you've been dealing with across texas, oklahoma, kansas. 82 right now in dallas, 77 in austin. it's dry a, though, so that air really warms up quickly. that will be true around phoenix, too. 92 currently. higher elevation, flagstaff, 53. look at vegas, 85 to 89 already, around the region, gets up to

about 110 today. heat advisories, let me show you this map. it's roughly the same area we've had for the last couple of days, namely, north texas, parts of oklahoma, parts of northern louisiana, arkansas, and western mississippi. heat advisories going to feel like 100 to 105 with the humidity, 103 to 107 in the red-shaded area. fayetteville, tulsa, ft. smith will all be baking in the heat today. things will change, cool-down later today and tomorrow. look at the temperatures to the north, little cooler, down to the south hotter. thunderstorms a possibility here, some on the severe side. here comes the cooler air behind the cold front, nor day filled with the heat. by the weekend, temperatures falling back to the low 90s for dallas. it's dry now in chicago. down to the south farther, showers, thunderstorms, over toward kansas city, the rain is out there. let me show you live on your tower cam. we have decent rain to the west. the clouds are definitely in place.

we will see some stronger thunderstorms developing in kc today. mid-80s your high temperature. good morning to you. more details in about a half hour. >> thanks. on wall street, the stocks are on a bit of a roll. susan is at the new york stock exchange with the latest on what's keeping the rally going. welcome. >> good morning, robin. that's right. stocks are higher for a third straight day. i know you teased the audience earlier. the tech sector really helping out today. intel posting profits that easily beat wall street's estimates. the chip maker says business is picking up fast, forecasting a strong second half of the year. analysts expect consumer demand to drive intel sales growth this quarter. businesses are still cautious on holdoff on replacing computers. intel shares are up nearly 7%. ginet, the publisher of "usa today" and 80 other papers is posting a profit despite

plunging ad revenue gannett shares are up 14%. gannett did lots of cost cutting. consumer prices shot up 7% in june, the biggest increase in 11 months. just slightly higher than expected. the jump is seen as temporary, a reflection of the spike in gas prices which have already begun to slide back. later today, the nyse will celebrate a pop culture milestone. the tenth anniversary of the premiere of "spongebob squarepants." in honor of that occasion, mr. squarepants himself will ring the closing bell along with executives from nickelodeon and its parent company viacom. as if to make it more exciting, nick will air 50 hours of spongebob programming this weekend. robin, i know that you've changed your schedule upon hearing this news. >> i've got to say, when i baby-sit my nephews, this is a

really cute cartoon. it it's enjoyable for adults, too. >> it is. in fact, in news that you really can't use, a spongebob squarepants was invented by a former marine biologist. maybe he's a former marine biologist because he's so darn rich! >> right on. thank you. >> bye. michael jackson's ex-wife gave him full custody of their kids when they got a divorce about a decade ago. but is she willing to fight his family for the kids now? her lawyer is reacting strongly to a new report.

the battle over michael

jackson's children may not get settled easily. the lawyer for jackson's ex-wife debbie rowe says she still has not decided what to do. that was in response to a report that rowe has agreed to take $4 million in exchange for not challenging jackson's mother for custody. jeffrey cutuben said it wouldn' be surprising if money enters the relationship. >> because of an absence of a real relationship, she might not get custody. but it would be in the jackson family's interest to give her some money to go away, which is a big profit potential for her. >> child custody hearing had been set for this week but a court official says it's been pushed back until next monday. nancy grace is looking at the possibility of a custody battle. she'll have today's developments tonight at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. eastern. you know, with airlines having such a tough time selling seats, some are slashing fares again to get you to buy a

ticket. cheap plane tickets are some good news in a bad economy. airtran and southwest are selling one-way fares for as low as $39 for $49 in some cases. and major airlines are matching or cutting fares so they stay competitive. decades ago alabama governor journal wallace called for segregation forever. as jason carroll reports now an african-american is running for governor in alabama. his story is part of cnn's documentary "black in america 2" premiering july 22nd and 23rd and 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> thank you, ladies and gentlemen. >> reporter: to supporters he's the symbol of a new alabama. a figure showing the state moving past its segregationist history. he's archer davis trying to make history by becoming the state's first african-american governor. >> so you really think you can win. >> no question i think we can win. wouldn't be running if we didn't. >> reporter: our interview taking place at a church where

four little girls were killed in a bombing during the civil rights move the. davis says he knows and believes in the people here today. >> i'm someone who was raised by my mother and grandmother, grew up in a relatively small town, montgomery, alabama. >> reporter: davis made his way to harvard law school. politics brought him home. >> i had to come back and i wanted to contribute something to the state. >> reporter: he lost his first bid to congress in 2000 but won a rematch twoees later and has served four terms. but is bam bm ready for a democratic african-american governor? >> alabama neats ar tur. they just don't know it. >> reporter: peggy wallace has a unique perspective. her father, noted for saying -- >> i say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever. >> reporter: wallace later renounced his segregationist views, changing times his daughter supported then-senator barack obama during the 2008 election and supports davis now.

>> we had many friends that did not and could not understand why we voted for obama and i'm sure will not vote for artur. some people are just not ready. >> reporter: to which davis says -- >> i think more of them know they're ready than some people think. >> reporter: political analysts like natalie davis say when talking politics and color, remember alabama is a red state. president obama lost the state by a wide margin, capturing about 10% of the white vote. >> in alabama if you're a democrat running against a republican, white or black, you have to take 38% of the white vote. >> reporter: she says it's a tall order, but davis remains confident. >> breakthrough moments often aren't foreseeable, even just a short time before they happen. >> davis says he's not going to focus on race during his campaign. in fact, he says most of the journalists who ask him about race are from out of state. davis says his campaign will

focus on the issues facing the state. will it work? his first big test comes about a year from now during the democratic primary. jason carroll, cnn, new york. "black in america 2" premieres july 22nd and 23rd, 8:00 p.m. eastern on our sister network cnn. people often leave behind a lot of stuff when their homes get foreclosed. sadly, that includes their pets. one man is going out on a limb for abandoned animals and has found a silver lining in the housing crisis.

you know, alots of people have lost their homes to foreclosure. when they can't afford to keep their home, they usually can't afford to keep their pet as

well. >> there are many foreclosures. that means a lot of people unfortunately abandon their pets very cruelly by just leaving them in the homes. >> that man has started a group in nevada to find those pets new homes. ironically, the group's new shelter is in a home that was in foreclosure. elizabeth taylor is denying a report that she was hospitalized because of her grief over michael jackson's death. she was admitted to an l.a. hospital last week, but it was apparently for scheduled testing. the actress actually told fans about it on twitter. she posted the message at the same time that she announced she wouldn't be attending xr ining memorial. you know, this is so cute that some of baseball's biggest stars that most people go ga ga over were star struck themselves when they met the president. >> i have been around professional athletes my entire life, and to see them get this sort of childlike and giddy, it

it was really endearing. it it's something that you absolutely don't often see. put politics aside, yes, president obama, a white sox fan, he first met the only sox player on the roster, pitcher mark buehrle. look at ichiro. then he hugged al burt pujols? the reason? the st. louis slugger made him look good when threw out the first pitch. then for the first time in history, a guy who didn't score or hit it in a run was named mvp, carl crawford helped the american league to its seventh straight win with that home run robbing catch. american league wins it 4-3. how does a guy who almost made, oh, about $100 million have money problems? former nba all-star antoine walker owes 300 grand to las vegas casinos. he took out a million bucks in

markers but allegedly didn't pay it back. he's facing felonies and there' arrest. last week, st. paul saints, known for their wackiness, massage, the rosters a hot tub. now, twitter and facebook night. twitter and facebook. actually going to be called twitter my face. they are uncouraging fans, players and coaches to update their facebook status and send tweets and photos throughout the game. a big departure. i hope they don't have to do it while they are playing. >> twitter my face? really promotions in years, don't they? >> the owner of the team is great. >> thank you. all right. bob, good morning. >> hey, what's up, robin? so far, looking a at delays around chicago dissipating, which is good. travel out that way, showers slow you down later this afternoon. show you saber flight explorer, moved it on farther to the east. here is toledo, detroit, nation that line of thunderstorms

coming at us, south bend, sbn, all moving this way, fire up later this afternoon. get delayed for the rest of the great lakes, too. here is the rest of the day, one-hour possibility chicago, midway and o'hare, seen them and now they are gone, which is good news. more delays popping up today, detroit, cleveland, cincinnati. and then down to st. louis and kansas city, also minneapolis, gusty winds to 35 miles per hour. more on that in just a little bit. >> all right. time now for eye report of the day, the eye reporter shot this video yesterday near l.a. look at the crowd lining up to see the latest harry potter film. fans said they were looking forward to a romance between harriet and hermine. oh, we give you the news, you give us your views, head to cnn.com/robin. learn how you can be an eye reporter. a guy with muscular dystrophy went skydiving for the first time in 22 years. >> so many people out here that only dream of doing stuff like this, now this will hopefully

open the door for them. >> you have got to hear and see his inspiring story.